This application relates to a heel cushion for insertion into the heel portion of a shoe, boot, or any other piece of footwear. More particularly the present invention relates to a heel cushion which is insertable in a piece of footwear for helping to relieve the discomfort of painful heel spurs or growths or other sensitive heel ailments.
Applicant is one of the many sufferers of painful heel spurs. Surgical removal of such heel spurs is often not recommended, or only recommended as a very last resort if the heel spur becomes too painful to ambulate with. In addition, there are many persons who are simply very reluctant to have such heel spurs surgically treated. Thus, there are many people who are, by choice or by necessity, forced to live with such painful heel spurs or growths. In applicant's experience, such persons are generally in constant search for heel cushions which are capable of helping to relieve their discomfort.
Until the present invention applicant had been one of such persons. Applicant found that he was constantly trying commercially available foot pads, heel pads, or any other type of available cushion which he hoped would help to relieve his discomfort. In applicant's case, the need for an effective cushion was magnified because applicant is also very athletically inclined, and was therefore in need of a cushion which could help to relieve the discomfort of a heel spur or growth during strenuous athletic activity.
With the thought of trying to relieve his discomfort, applicant personally tried numerous commercially available foot cushions and heel cushions. Applicant found that the various forms of cushions which he was able to obtain and test were not satisfactory for relieving his own discomfort. Applicant tried wedge-shaped heel cushions having pads which were apparently formed of a very densely packed material and which, while being generally wedge-shaped, were only of a maximum thickness of under 1/2 inch. Other types of cushions tried were those designed to fit the inner contour of an entire shoe, with the usual result being that applicant's discomfort was not reduced to an appreciable extent.
Faced with such problems applicant set out to design his own heel cushion for helping to relieve the painful discomfort of heel spurs or growths. One particular feature which applicant found undesirable in commercially available cushions was that all tended to be relatively thin (with maximum thicknesses generally under 1/2 inch) and that all were formed of a fairly dense material.